"Threats, Gage?" Her laugh thrummed through him. "You gonna tattle to my partners about how naughty I am?"
He nearly groaned at her provocative tone.
"Nothing so pedestrian." He shifted a touch closer because he liked the scent of her, tightening the cross of his arms. Just to keep his hands where they belonged. "I wouldn't go behind your back to manipulate the other executives. This is your cross to bear, and I'm simply pointing out that you don't want this on your conscience. Do you?"
"My conscience is quite clear, thanks." Her gaze fastened firmly on his, she crossed her arms in a mirror of his pose, intentionally sliding her elbow across his. And then hung around, brushing arms deliberately. "I'll take your offer to the others. Shall I show you the way out or can you find it yourself?"
Heat flashed where they touched. "As you're late for a board meeting where I suspect one of the topics will be the offer in question, I'll see myself out."
She didn't move, still partially blocking the open doorway. On purpose. So he'd have to slide by her like he'd done when he entered the room, to show she had his number and that whatever he dished out, he should expect to have served right back. It almost pulled an appreciative chuckle out of him but he caught it at the last second. Cass had grown up in many intriguing ways and this battle was far from over.
No point in letting her believe she had a chance in hell of winning.
So close to her that he could easily see the lighter colored flecks of blue in her irises, he palmed those cut-away panels at her waist like he'd been itching to do for an eternity and drew her against him. Yes, she was still as warm as he remembered and he ached to pull the pins from her tight blond chignon to let it rain down around her shoulders.
He leaned in, nearly nuzzling her ear with his lips. Her quick intake of breath was almost as thrilling as the feel of her skin through the panels. Instead of pulling her toward him like he wanted to, he pivoted and hustled her back a step into her office.
"Tell the girls I said hi," he murmured and let her go. Though where he found the willpower, he had no idea.
She nodded, her expression blank. He was so going to enjoy putting a few more cracks in her newly found ice-goddess exterior when they next met.
Three
Cass blew out the breath she'd been holding. Which didn't help either her shakes or her thundering pulse.
That hadn't gone down quite like she would have hoped. She and Gage might be equals now but that hadn't afforded her any special magic to keep her insides under control.
But Gage had left and that seemed like a small win.
Except now she had to go into that board meeting, where Trinity had most definitely told the others who Cass was meeting with. So she would have to give them the whole story, including his ridiculous offer for the formula.
Of all the nerve. Telling her she owed him the formula because he'd given her a few pointers once upon a time. Oh, she owed him all right, but more like a fat lip. Fyra's success had nothing to do with Gage.
Well, the broken heart he'd left her with had driven her for a long time. But she'd succeeded by her own merit, not because he'd mentored her.
If anyone decided to sell the formula, it would be because it made sound business sense. Like she'd told him. She squared her shoulders and went to her meeting in the large, sunny room at the end of the hall.
The other three women in the C-suite ringed the conference table as the governing forces of the company they'd dubbed Fyra, from the Swedish word for four. Alex Meer ran the numbers as the chief financial officer, Dr. Harper Livingston cooked up formulas in her lab as the chief science officer, Trinity Forrester convinced consumers to buy as the chief marketing officer and Cass held the reins.
All three of her friends looked up as she entered, faces bright with expectation.
"He's gone. Let's get started." Cass set down her phone and tablet, then slid into her customary chair.
"Not so fast," Trinity said succinctly. "We've been sitting here patiently waiting for juicy details, remember?"
They'd all been friends a long time. Juicy details meant they wanted to know how she felt about seeing Gage again. Whether she wanted to punch him or just go in the corner and cry. What was he up to and had they talked about their personal lives?
She didn't have the luxury of burdening her friends with any of that because they were also her business partners. There was no room at this conference table for her emotional upheaval.
"He wants to buy Formula-47. Offered one hundred million," she said bluntly. Better to get it out on the table. "I told him it wasn't for sale. That's the extent of it."
Harper's grin slipped as she wound her strawberry blond ponytail around one finger, an absent gesture that meant her brilliant mind was blazing away. "That's hardly the extent. What's the damage? Did he hear about my formula from the trade article?"
"No." Cass hated to have to be the bearer of bad news, but they had to know. "His information was much more detailed. Which means the leak is worse than we thought."
Hearing her own words echo in her head was almost as bad as a physical blow.
"What's wrong?" Trinity asked immediately, her dark head bent at an angle as she evaluated Cass. "Did Gage get to you?"
Dang it. It had taken all of fourteen seconds for the woman who'd been Cass's best friend since eleventh grade to clue in on the undercurrents. That man had put a hitch in her stride and it was unforgivable.
"I'm concerned about the leak. That's it. Forget about Gage. I already have," she lied.
Trinity's eyes narrowed but she didn't push, thank God. Gage's timing was horrific. Why had he waltzed back into her life during such a huge professional catastrophe?
Alex, the consummate tomboy in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, fiddled with her ever-present pen, tapping it against the legal pad on the conference table in front of her. "A hundred million is worth considering, don't you think?"
Instantly, Harper shook her head so hard, her ponytail flipped over her shoulder. Trinity and Cass scowled at Alex, who shrank under the heat of their gazes, but didn't recant her traitorous statement.
"Worth considering?" Cass's stomach contracted sharply as she took in the seriousness of Alex's expression. How could she be talking about selling so coolly? To Cass, it would be like selling her own child. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Shouldn't we consider a lucrative income stream when it's presented?" Alex argued. "We can't categorically dismiss that kind of paycheck."
They could when it was coming out of the bank account of the man who had destroyed Cass. Didn't that matter?
"Wait just a darn minute, Ms. Moneybags." Harper rounded on Alex, who shrank a bit under the redhead's scowl. "Formula-47 is my baby, not yours. I spent two years of my life perfecting it on the premise that we'd hinge our entire future strategy around the products we can create from the technology. If we sell it, we're giving up rights to it forever for a lump sum. That's not smart."
Alex tapped her pen faster against the legal pad. "Not if we retain rights and structure the deal-"
"No one is structuring deals," Cass broke in. "I only mentioned it because you needed to know. Gage's offer will vanish instantly if the leak shares the formula's recipe. And since we still don't know who it is, we have to focus on that first."
Alex firmed her mouth and nodded. "That's true."
"What did our lawyer say?" Trinity asked, raising her eyebrows as Cass blinked at her. "Didn't you just come back from Mike's office?"
"God, I'm sorry." Cass slid down in her chair an inch in mortification. Gage had wiped that entire meeting out of her head. "Mike doesn't think we can involve the police yet. The article didn't contain enough detail and wouldn't stand up in court as proprietary information. He advised us to file for FDA approval immediately, in hopes that will stem future information from being released prematurely. Until we find the leak, we can't be too careful."
She had to regain control now. Gage wasn't a factor. Period.
"I'm not ready." Harper shook her head mulishly. Careful and thorough might as well be tattooed on her forehead alongside her credentials, a valuable trait in a scientist who created the products with Fyra's label on them. "This is our first product that requires FDA approval. We can't rush it."
"So our lawyer gave us advice we don't plan to take." Pradas flat on the ground, Trinity leaned on the table. "What else do we have on the agenda that we need to get busy shooting down?"